


Hidden New Year

by Aithilin



Series: NyxNoct Fall-Winter 2019 [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: Noctis and Nyx slip away from the holiday party early.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric
Series: NyxNoct Fall-Winter 2019 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557886
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Hidden New Year

Their breath lingered together in the cold air of the hotel’s open roof. The lights dimmed around them in the night, the gathered crowd falling silent in eager anticipation of the spectacle to come. Only the aquarium seemed unaffected in the dark hours crawling forward toward the dawn. 

“Almost time,” Nyx muttered quietly at Noctis’ shoulder. For once not in uniform or on duty, but sharply dressed for the evening’s festivities as a guest. 

The nobility around them started to move forward— gathering along the gilded railings and the tables pressed against the barriers still laden with the light foods that had been on offer since the holiday party had started. Golden lights dimmed around the perimeter, until only the hazy blue of the aquarium was left. 

Noctis smiled as he turned his attention to the fish swimming in their lazy circles. “You say that like you’re not excited.”

“I’ve seen fireworks before, little star.”

“But you haven’t seen them like this.”

“Sure I have,” the speeches had started, the stage lit and set for the festive words of welcome to the new year. The remnants of autumn still clinging to the city streets below— crisp ochre leaves waited for the first real brisk winter morning and the nobility of the city stood as high above it all as they could to welcome in the new year with a few hours to spare. With a show and pretty speeches and the last of the autumn winds whipping around them. “Even saw them from way up here.”

Nyx had found that Lucians liked the stolen moments caught between life and death. The new year balanced on the edge of the old, where the dying leaves faced the chill breath of what they considered was a new start. In Cleigne, the festivities started in the dawn, in the breath between night and day when the tides had turned. In Duscae, there was a moment like in Insomnia, where the longer nights ticked away and the moment that hung in the balance between and old and new was celebrated by lighting the sky on fire. 

Lucian holidays were built on these little moments. 

“You look good, highness,” Nyx said, as the King took the stage for the final speech. 

It was an understatement— Nyx would always think it was an understatement. Noctis stood in his royal suits, the gold and silvers of his kingdom’s colours glittering in the soft light of the aquarium behind them. The picture of Lucian nobility with his dark hair and cold eyes, standing aside from the crowd, lingering back with the fish and his own guest while his father took the attention of the crowd. 

“Don’t flatter, hero.” Noctis smiled, and took Nyx’s hand before he stepped back. Away from the crowd and the light and the excitement that everyone was waiting for. 

Stepping away from that final push the Lucians liked to force the new year forward. 

“What do they do in Galahd for this sort of thing, anyway?”

“It’s quieter. A good gathering on a beach, some food, some music…”

“In the winter like this?”

“Summer.” Nyx smiled and glanced up at the now familiar fish circling the aquarium. “The shortest night means the new year is about to start, you know.”

“The Nifs say it’s in winter, around the longest night.”

“And Lucians seem to think it’s now,” offering a shrug, Nyx glances away as the first of the fireworks flower around them. Blossoms of gold and red— the autumn colours that had already faded— sparkled across the night sky and caused the fish to scatter. 

Noctis set a hand against the glass of the aquarium, feeling the vibrations that had started them. “Want to get out of here, hero?”

“Ready when you are, little star.”

From the street, the display had built to its crescendo, the colours breaking apart before fading beneath the shimmer of the Wall. The streets were crowded with spectators huddled together to watch the show— waves of murmurs and appreciation flowing through the people oblivious to the couple pushing through them. 

Noctis’ apartment was closest. 

They didn’t bother turning the lights on as they pushed through the door and dark. Flickering red and silver, blues and golds, illuminated the apartment around them in longer and longer intervals. Had they stayed on the rooftop with the rest, they would have been pulled into conversations that started up again as the show wound down, as the Wall returned to the focus. They would have spent the last few hours waiting for the dawn standing on a frozen rooftop, huddled together as they tried to think up excuses to disappear between them. 

Instead, they were warm, and smiling. Watching one Lucian year collide into the next from the warmth of Noctis’ apartment, where the holiday was muted and soft around them. 

“Not going to make it to the bedroom,” Noctis’ breath caught between them, heated and heavy against the silence of the apartment. “Shirt off.”

“That an order.”

“Shirt. Now.”


End file.
